


Acting is Easy, Loving is Harder

by BrittySauce



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Acting, Action & Romance, Actors, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Shiro (Voltron), Blue Paladin Allura (Voltron), Celebrities, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), Homesick Lance (Voltron), Human Allura (Voltron), Human Coran (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Mentioned Coran (Voltron), Minor Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Pining Hunk (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Samoan Hunk (Voltron), Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Supportive Coran (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-11-12 06:24:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18005543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrittySauce/pseuds/BrittySauce
Summary: A new live action sci-fi/ fantasy show has been cast, Voltron.Included in the cast is the famous actresses Allura and Pidge, the famous actors Takashi ‘Shiro’ Shirogane and Keith Kogane, the famous chef Hunk Garrett, and the famous music artist Lance McClain. Throwing these five A-list celebrities onto one show can only come to one of three things. Beautiful Chaos, Painful Chaos, or Both.Throw in a romance, and a bad first meeting for some(two), and now you just spell out trouble.





	1. Introducing Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is introduced.

**VOLTRON CHAT ROOM**

**anon1:** Did you guys hear about the cast for Voltron!? 

**anon2:** Uh duh!!! Allura, my queen, is in THE HOUSE BABY!

 **anon3:** What about that mysterious guy, Keith? He’s so hot!

 **anon1:** Nah, Lance is where the money is at! 

**anon4:** Do you think they’ll really show LGBT rep??? 

**anon2:** God I hope so! Coran hasn’t let us down yet!

 **anon3:** Not to mention half the cast is somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

 **anon1:** Like our favorite soldier Shiro! I can’t wait to see the show! 

**anon4:** Gah can you imagine!??? Allura, Pidge and Lance in one show!!!!!?????? The sheer feminine power in one place, I’m

 **anon2:** You know you put Lance in that group too right?

 **anon4:** Tell me you can’t take one look at McClain and NOT see absolute female power?

 **anon2:** You right tho

~~~~

**INTERVIEW EXCERPT**

_Interviewer: Voltron has taken over social media, and the cast has only just been announced! I’m here today with one of said cast members. Welcome Lance!_

_Lance: Thanks, glad to be here._

_Interviewer: Is there anything you can reveal to us about the show?_

_Lance: *chuckles* Sorry darling, my lips are sealed on that front._

_Interviewer: Oh surely there must be something you can share? How about one of the most posed questions in the media? Will there truly be LGBT representation?_

_Lance: I can’t say much, but as far as we know for the time being, there will be a side romance for sure._

_Interviewer: How about your costars? How do you feel about working with so many powerful stars?_

_Lance: I’m excited, I think we all are. Hunk and I know each other already, and I practically worship Shiro and Allura. I haven’t had the chance to meet Pidge or Keith, and I met Coran once, at auditions, but I have a good feeling about this show._

~~~~

Lance is in his element, soaking up the love of his fans.

Ever since the cast reveal, his popularity had skyrocketed. It's now the last show of his world tour, and then he's off to the set to start filming. Technically, the filming started two weeks ago, but he worked things out with Coran, his cast director. The others are only shooting scenes Lance isn't in, or are unimportant.

Lance smiles to the mirror.

He's really made it. No more will he be struggling to get by on his music doing covers and party performances. He's hit the big time, even getting to do his own world tour! And at every concert, his crowds just keep getting bigger and bigger.

He just has to do one last show.

Lance is pumped, ready to make this the best concert ever. He's going all in on this one, and he owes all of his help to his manager, Plaxum. Weird name, yes, but she's good at what she does. Lance checks his outfit one last time as he tries to settle his nerves. 

His eyes are done with a dramatic eyeliner, and he’s dressed in a fancy metallic suit jacket, blue with silver stars sparkling across the fabric. His shirt is a simple black button up, with the top three buttons open and loose. His pants are just a simple pair of black skinny jeans, the stretchy kind.

Lance dances out his nerves, stretching his body and getting his heart pumping. He’ll be doing a lot of dancing and moving tonight, because he wanted this show to be perfect. Don’t want to pull a muscle. 

There’s a knock at the door, and with a rush of chaos, he’s on the platform that’ll raise him to the stage. They give him a pair of earplugs and a wireless microphone, then Plaxum squeezes between the stage hands to pat him on the back and wish him luck. He barely hears it over the roar of the crowd, and they aren’t even screaming yet. 

With one last thumbs up, the above lights shut off. 

Lance stands into his beginning pose, his back to the crowd and head up. His shoulders roll back naturally and his feet spread apart to stabilize him. The lights above ease back on as his band starts with his first song, something upbeat and slightly repetitive. 

The roar of the crowd turns into a deafening scream and Lance eases in his second earpiece with a smile. 

The first song goes off without a hitch, and his adrenaline is pumping. His lips ache from how much he’s smiling as he takes a moment to address the crowd before song number two. It’s a full set for him, eighteen songs with two encores planned. His voice is sure to be _wrecked_ on his way to the Voltron set. 

He does four songs in a row after song two, and with each one the crowd screams louder at him.

He pauses to talk some and get his breath back. And get some water, because the stage is burning up from all the lights. He catches sight of himself on one of the big screens and he almost winces at his sweaty face. His eyeliner is still on point though, thank God. 

“Thank you guys! Wow! There’s so many people here, it’s crazy!” Lance says, giving a little squeal for the crowd, who are screaming right back at him. He runs a hand through his hair, smiling as he waves at the fans. He reads out a few posters, and laughs as he sees one that calls him ‘daddy’, his face red. When his breath is back to normal, he starts singing once more. 

It’s crazy.

The crowd is huge, bigger than he’s ever seen at his own concerts. He does a slow song and the darkness beyond the stage lights up like the night sky. It’s breathtaking really, exhilarating. Who knew he would be here, with such a big turn out? Who knew those grueling years trying hard just find a gig at a sleazy bar would bring him here? Who knew he would be so famous? He stops to talk again after song eleven.

“You guys have been wonderful! This next song, it hits home for me, so forgive me if my voice breaks. When it came out, it helped me through my bisexual crises-” He’s cut off by another roaring scream and he laughs. “Hell yeah! Power to the gays! Anyways, it helped me in my rough times, so I hope it helps you too. I know it’s hard to accept yourself sometimes, but I’m here for you all.” And then he starts singing _This is Me_ from The Greatest Showman. 

He throws everything into it. 

Lance starts out the song soft, soulful, his eyes closed as the words seem to rip themselves from his very core, standing still for the first time since he started the concert. Then on the first chorus he starts gliding slowly forward to the end of the stage. When the second verse starts, he freezes again, one hand gripping his shirt tight. 

His backup dancers, who have all been standing in various crouched poses, like they’re in critical pain, stand up and starts doing the exact dance from the show. Lance backs up as the chorus starts again and joins them, dancing with harsh enthusiasm. He and the dancers do the entire routine, and then when the beat drops after ‘I make no apologies’ he launches himself off the stage in a frontflip. 

Plaxum hated that part in rehearsals. 

He starts dancing the routine through the crowd, who are all screaming in his face and reaching out to touch him. He kisses the hand of a pretty girl before starting in on the bridge.

He makes it back to the stage when the music stops, hopping up with the help of a backup dancer. The rest are all frozen, reaching for the ground in a high crouch. Lance walks through them as he sings the slow part, his voice cracking on ‘this is brave’. When the first beat drops his dancers hit their knees, and when the music starts they all stand and throw their arms out like they’re going to embrace someone, Lance whipping around to match them. 

They finish the song with a proverbial bang as the lights go out. 

He does two more of his own songs, then does an onstage costume change while the lights are out. He changes into a sparkly blue tank top, with knee high leather boots and a fedora. It’s a small relief on his skin to change. 

When the lights go up again, he lets the crowd do their screaming. Then jumps into a cover of Shakira’s She-Wolf, changing all the female pronouns to male, and making the cover extremely gay. The fans went wild when he showed the world he had Shakira’s hips. 

On his last song, before the encores, he trips. 

Lance rolls with it, literally, using the forward momentum to go into a roll and then pops back up on his feet. All without missing a single beat or lyric. After the song he talks to the fans.

“Did anyone see me trip? No? Good let’s keep it that way, because it didn’t happen. Whatsoever.” Lance says and the entire crowd erupts into a roar of laughter. Lance smiles as he thanks the fans for coming to see him. When the lights go out, he does another quick on stage costume change. He forgoes a shirt all together. 

He also kicks off his shoes, and just does his last two songs barefoot and shirtless. 

In other words, his concert was amazing. Plus, he’s trending on twitter, with a _very_ nice picture of him mid song of an encore. He’s barely clothed, in nothing but a pair of tight skinny jeans, and a fedora. Right before he walks off stage he thanks the fans one last time and then tells them to look out for him in a new show called Voltron.


	2. Meet and Greet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance meets the cast for the first time.

Lance walks half blind into the coffee shop.

He just woke up after a fourteen hour sleep, and things are still a bit slow to process. He rubs at his eyes with a yawn, careful to keep his shades from falling. He doesn't care for anonymity, the sun is just bright today. The door to the coffee shop opens with a ring of a bell, and Lance trips on his way past the threshold.

Lance slips off his shades as the sunlight is slightly blocked by the building interior, and he makes his way to the order counter. The barista, a tired looking teenage girl half asleep on her feet, looks up at him and Lance watches as she visibly lights up. She plays it off while she’s making his order, but after that it’s like all bets are off. 

Coffees in hand, Lance is bombarded for pictures and autographs, to which he gladly obliges. 

He’s running later than intended when he sets off for the set, still yawning and sipping his coffee, carrying five more in one hand and in the crook of his arm. He wants to make a good impression, so he bought everyone coffee, and tipped that barista a couple hundred. Not like he’s hurting for money all that much in the first place anyways. 

The set is huge, probably bigger than any other filming set Lance has ever been allowed onto, let alone acting a big part in. He gets so turned around he isn’t even sure if he’s on the right set anymore. Lance looks around blearily, looking for someone who doesn’t look extremely busy to give him some directions back to the spot for his meet and greet.

That, of course, was his first mistake.

Lance collides coffee first with a blunt surface and crashes to the ground. He rubs his head with a wince, looking down at his coffee stained clothes as he tries to get his bearings all over again. Hopefully no one saw him walk face first into a wall, _how embarrassing._

“What the hell?” A voice says, coming from where the supposed ‘wall’ was supposed to be. “Watch where you’re going newbie!” 

Lance looks up, slightly more confused than he would prefer to be. He’s almost always confused in some way, English being his second language and all, but still. The supposed ‘wall’ is actually a person, a pretty male. 

Long, inky black hair that brushes the nape of his neck, slightly soaked at the ends with coffee. Violet-blue eyes with blown wide pupils, creased into a narrow squint. Strong body, mainly in the shoulders. He’s scowling, and it looks kind of familiar. It takes Lance a moment to realize the hot rude guy is one of his co-stars. It’s Keith Kogane, Hollywood’s resident mystery man. 

Great, his co-star is a jackass. 

“I’m sorry?” Lance says, because he isn’t rude, and he knows he probably should have looked where he was going, but he’s just exhausted. A ‘concert crash’, which is what he calls the feeling of coming off a concert- or multiple in this case- is truly a bitch. It leaves him tired, groggy, jet lagged if he crosses time zones. Which he did. The crash just drains him of all energy. Normally he’d take two days to recuperate, get back on his feet and all, but he has to get to filming.

“You should be.” Keith says, tugging at his coffee stained shirt with a deep grimace. “If you want to make it anywhere in this business, pay attention to what the fuck you’re doing.” 

Lance creases his brow in confusion. He’s been apart of this ‘business’ since he was a kid just out of diapers. Who the hell does Keith think Lance is? Realization sets upon him then, that Keith doesn’t recognize him. 

“I think there’s been some sort of miscommunication here.” Lance starts, but Keith ignores him and saunters off with grumbles in his throat. He walks in a completely different direction from his original course, which suggests he might be going to change clothes. Lance sighs, looking at his own sticky cloths with a crinkled nose. 

Whatever, he’s worked with plenty of divas in this line of work, what’s one more?

Lance readjusts his travel bag, a small backpack with clean clothes and toiletries. Just a carry-on sized bag really, so he had his supplies with him at least. Too bad the only clean clothes he owns at the time is a fancy suit. God, he’s going to melt in this heat, especially after spending a couple months traveling the northern parts of the northern hemisphere. His body is used to the cold now, so this suit will just suffocate him until he can re-adjust.

Lance sneaks off to a secluded building, locks the door, and changes into his suit. 

When he reemerges from his impromptu dressing room, he locates someone who points him in the way of his meet and greet at last. Lance walks almost dejectedly, tired, sore, and now smelling like coffee and sweat. He finally locates the building he is supposed to be meeting his coworkers in, and straightens his shoulders with a practiced smile.

The door opens with a slight pressure, and the quiet chatter in the room silences as he comes into full view. Hunk is the first person Lance sees, who beams at him from a couch. Hunk struggles to get up from his spot on the circle of couches then runs to Lance and picks up off the floor in a bone crushing hug. Lance doesn’t even get the chance to say his greetings before the breath is squeezed out of his chest by force. 

“Lance! Buddy! You’re here! It’s been so long! How was the tour? How was the flight in? Why do you smell like coffee? Oh I’ve missed you!” Hunk says all in one breath. Lance pats Hunk on the back as he struggles to breath through his compressed chest. Shiro laughs from the couches.

“Okay Hunk, I think you’re killing him.” Shiro says. Hunk drops him with a gasp and coos his apologies as Lance coughs to breathe normally again. Lance stands up with a real smile on his face, which is slightly crooked as he’s come to learn from pictures. 

He’s crowded by the rest of the cast, excluding Keith, but who cares about that guy. Allura and Shiro are the first to introduce themselves to him. He spends a decent minute fangirling as he meets his two biggest idols in person for the first time. 

Shiro is as nice as everyone says he is, and Allura is just as sweet as talked about. Pidge is a little blunt, but the abrupt way she speaks is refreshing. As a celebrity it's always hard to find someone who will be real with you. Pidge seems to be that person. He's just about to start introducing himself when the door opens.

Keith walks in, head down as he's looking at his new shirt. It's looser on him, a black vest that shows off his biceps in a very flattering way. Tight on the shoulders, loose in the waist. He walks in talking, apparently addressing Shiro.

"Hey Shiro, I had to borrow one of your shirts because some new guy-" Keith stops mid sentence as he locks eyes with Lance. He doesn't scowl, just frowns.

"What are you doing here?" Keith asks, a slight bit hostile. Then his eyes rake down Lance with a raised eyebrow, not looking the slightest bit impressed. Well damn, fine. _You wanna play Kogane,_ Lance thinks, _then let's play._

He turns the charm up to eleven.

Lance rakes a hand through his short hair, hopefully looking suave as he wipes off some sweat from his forehead. He smiles his practiced smile, lets his eyes hood lazily, straightens his shoulders. Lance knows exactly what he's doing, and it is definitely working. If the slight twitch in Keith's expression has anything to say about it anyways.

"The name's Lance, Lance McClain." He says, nothing but flirty as he stretches his hand out to shake. Keith grips his hand slowly and loosely, eyes darting over his shoulder at the others. "I'm your new co-star." He says.

Lance relishes the slight panic in Keith's eyes as he drops his smooth facade. Smile slipping into a scowl to rival Keith's earlier one, eyes narrowing, grip tightening almost painfully.

"Jackass." He says.

Keith goes to say something, but Lance is saved by the bell. Or door actually, but semantics. Coran pops his head in with a cheek stretching smile.

"Ah Lance! Great! I see you've met your cast co-stars as well too! Wonderful. Mind if I steal you away?" Coran says, all in one go, much like Hunk. Lance knows he already likes this one, some Directors can be mean or hard to like. He smiles his goofy smile at him as he drops Keith's hand. Then he promptly shoves past him, none to gently either, shoulder checking him as he steps towards the door.

"Only if you have caffeine," Lance says. "I had a cup earlier, but someone doesn't know how to watch where they're going so I spilled it."

Keith scoffs behind, making his smile nearly drop off his face. But he's an actor, and a damn good one if he says so himself. So he saves face and leaves the meet and greet without even looking back. He throws a 'Later Hunk' over his shoulder as he follows Coran, who is already going on about what is to be expected from the day on set. Lance yawns.

He really _cannot_ handle all of this without his morning sugar and caffeine fix.


	3. First Take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith watches Lance shoot the first scene of the pilot episode.

Keith groans into the couch he’s lying face down on. 

“What did you do?” Shiro asks, more amused than scolding. Keith only groans louder into the couch cushion. God, he’s such an idiot. Just his luck that the first meeting he has with his mysterious co-star goes so far down the drain even Hell is too far away to reach it. 

Worse, it’s probably all Keith’s fault too. 

“Wow,” Hunk says, sitting on the edge of the couch by his head and patting Keith’s shoulder in sympathy. Somehow, Keith gets the feeling there’s no real sympathy there at all. 

“You must really have pissed him off if he’s already insulting you. What did you do anyways?” Hunk continues, and Keith wants to melt into the ground and never return. 

Keith reruns through the entire first encounter with Lance McClain, turning his head so he can speak clearly while still being able to wallow in his misery. He had just gotten off the phone with his mother, which is an entirely different story. While he was trying to angrily put away his phone someone smacks face first into his chest and spills about a half dozen cups of coffee all over them both. 

A very pretty someone. 

A very pretty someone who apparently is _not_ a new intern.

How was Keith supposed to know? The man was walking around like a lost puppy with a handful and a half of coffees, and didn’t introduce himself. Which, yeah, might be Keith’s fault as well. Dammit all. Why must he be such an idiot? He should have recognized the guy, but he looks so different from the few pictures Keith was shown. 

Long, almost chin length curly hair. As opposed to the short, straight hair Keith saw him with in the pictures. His skin is paler, not quite as tanned, and his eyes were droopy and tired. 

“Dude,” Pidge says, laughing. “You are so blind.” 

Keith groans again, turning his face into the couch. Great, now his new co-star is going to hate him. Which means filming will be a _blast,_ note the sarcasm. Perhaps if he apologizes before things can get out of hand? 

“Excuse me?” A new voice says and Keith peeks out of the cushion to see the new comer. This one actually is an intern at least. She ushers them onto set to get ready for the first scene with Lance. Which is actually going to be the opening scene of the pilot episode. Fortunately, Keith doesn’t show up in the pilot episode until about five scenes in. 

But now he has to watch. 

Fun. 

They walk to the set, and dodge the large crowd of people who are milling around aimlessly. Guess Keith isn’t the only one who wants to watch Lance’s first scene. Pidge and Hunk, also in the first scene and already in costume, are hurried onto set. The rest of them hang out behind the cameras, waiting to see the magic happen.

Coran had been singing Lance’s praises since day one. Talking about the raw talent and the engaging personality and the charming smiles. Now it’s time to find out if Lance is all he’s cracked up to be. 

The set goes quiet.

Lance, or rather, Leandro, his character, walks onto the scene and Keith’s heart stops. Lance’s hair is cut shorter now, longer on top than it is on the sides and in the back, still curly. Lance is wearing a blue turtleneck shirt, matched with a green, slightly patchy army jacket and black cargo pants. There’s a pair of goggles over his eyes, and he has more freckles across the nose than Keith remembers. 

In Leandro’s hands is a sniper rifle, and he’s crouched low as he sneaks across the set. Most of the big details are green screen, but it looks amazing when Keith watches through the camera. Leandro is sneaking through ruins, looking wary and on high alert. 

There’s an explosion, not a real one of course, and Leandro leaps behind the crumbling stone of what used to be President Zarkon’s statue. The history of the show is simple. President Zarkon, a tyrant hell bent on world domination has pretty much succeeded. All that stands between him and total domination is a small band of highly trained rebels who used to be Zarkon’s top enforcers before they defected.

That’s Leandro (Lance's character), Para (Pidge’s character) and Tsuyoshi, also known as Suyo (Hunk’s character).

During the pilot episode, the three of them are on their own. They’re trying to evade Zarkon’s soldiers to get to a safe house, but Leandro gets injured. However he gets saved, eventually, by Keith’s character. Akira, a mysterious guy who’s good with a sword and swipes Suyo, Leandro and Para onto his bike to get them to freedom. 

Pidge sort of comes on scene as Lance, or Leandro, eases onto the empty and breaking apart road. He’s basically the deer that peeks out of the forest and eases into the field only to be gunned down by a patient hunter. Leandro takes a bullet to the shoulder, hitting the ground hard, but immediately getting up and running for cover. A hail of bullets follow him and he takes cover behind a concrete block that had crumbled from the nearby building.

“Hey Para! Need a little help here!” Leandro yells into his wrist, where a simulated holographic screen is, the first words to come out of his mouth since the scene started. He ducks as a hail of bullets break off a chunk of concrete.

_“Hey not my fault you don’t know how to stay with your team. Shouldn’t have went ahead without us you idiot!”_ Para’s voice says, crackling like she’s speaking through a communicator, courtesy of special effects. Leandro rolls his eyes mocks her silently, which isn’t actually in the script but definitely fits Leandro’s character personality. 

“Yeah, yeah, scold me later, kind of injured here.” Leandro says, and he winces, holding onto his shoulder and pulling away with a bloody hand. Lance’s hand is actually bloody, courtesy of a pack of fake blood, it isn’t special effects. 

_“Boo hoo.”_ Para says back. Hunk’s character, Suyo, butts in here.

_“Okay guys, no more fighting.”_ Suyo says.

_“Fine,”_ Para says back, and then she’s on scene in the flesh.

She runs out of the ruins, swiping her fake blades at the soldier’s thighs and sending them into a panic. Suyo joins in with a tackle, taking down two or three soldiers at once, and giving Lance the chance to set up his rifle. While Para and Suyo take the soldiers on face to face, Leandro guards their back with his crazy good aim. 

They end the scene there. 

“Boo yah!” Lance calls out as he stands from the ground. He lifts Pidge in a hug, lifting her off the ground, much like what Hunk does all the time. No wonder the two of them are such good friends. 

Keith swallows and slowly eases out of the way as Coran goes over to the trio. They’ll run it a few times just to be sure, but the first take was pretty much dead on. Keith shoves his hands into his pockets as he escapes. Now he _really_ needs to apologize.


	4. Hermana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little bit of a wind down chapter before things get started, also, Rachel!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caution: I'm not fluent in Spanish. If it’s incorrect feel free to let me know!

“Lance wait up!” Keith called from behind him.

Filming is done for the day and he just wants to go to his hotel and get some sleep. He doesn’t have the energy to deal with Keith and his assholish tendencies right now. They didn’t actually get much more done than the first few scenes, they stopped just before Akira is supposed to come and save the day. 

That might be Lance’s fault, as he kept fumbling his lines from exhaustion. 

Lance walks a little bit faster with a yawn and the studio gates appear in his line of sight. Just a little farther. Keith’s footsteps could be heard behind him, picking up pace as well. Lance sighs and and speeds up, easily maneuvering his way through the crowd of people heading out for the day. 

When he glances back, Keith is having no such luck.

Lance smiles tiredly as he finally eases out of the gates, his suit suffocating him in the dry heat. He tugs at his collar as a bead of sweat drips into his eye. He starts heading for the street corner, keeping his head down because he doesn’t want to attract to much attention. There are always paparazzi buzzing around it seems, like annoying, persistent mosquitoes.

He’s slipping into his car, a rental, because he has yet to set up any stability here yet, when Keith rounds the corner after him. Lance flips the engine on just as Keith catches sight of him, his eyes wide and determined. Lance doesn’t care for what Keith has to say, so he just drives past without looking back.

He can see Keith stomping his foot like a child in his rear view. 

Lance can’t help but to smile as he picks up speed and leaves Keith’s image in the dust. God, he just wants to sleep. He takes a few wrong turns, and has to calibrate his lousy GPS four times before he finally finds the hotel Plaxum has him staying in. It’s nothing fancy, and he gets directions to his room from the front desk worker. 

He collapses face first onto his bed without even changing, but he doesn’t fall asleep. no matter how much his heavy eyes want him to. The first thing he dos is pull out his phone charger and plug up his dead phone. It springs to life with about a hundred notifications. He ignores then for the time being and dials his twin sister, Rachel’s number. 

She picks up on the first ring, like she had been sitting at their kitchen table waiting for his call.

_“Hola hermanito,_ it’s about time.” Rachel says, her voice slurred and sluggish. He takes a second to check the time, and it’s almost eleven here, so it should be around two in the morning in Cuba. Lance winces in guilt.

_“Lo siento_ Rachel, I forgot about the time differences. Also, you’re only three minutes older, _vete a la mierda.”_ Lance grouses in an equally tired voice. Rachel chuckles at him lowly, and Lance feel a strong wave of homesickness punch him the face. He smiles anyways, because his sister’s laugh is precious to him. 

“How was your first day?” Rachel asks, her words slurred and slow because she’s not quite as fluent in English as Lance is. Especially when she’s half asleep. Lance remembers to speak slowly for her to have time to translate in her sleepy mind. He also remembers not to use contractions, she isn’t very good with them.

“It is not the first day of high school, _hermana.”_ Lance teases, but he answers anyways before she can huff at him not to tease, despite the fact that she does it all the time to him. “It went mostly okay, but I was so jetlagged I kept messing up my lines.”

Rachel hums before asking another question.

_“¿Y los otros actores?”_ Rachel mumbles between shuffling echoing across the phone.

“The other actors?” Lance hums out loud to himself. “They’re mostly okay, one of them is a bit of a _burro_ though, but the rest are _guay._ " Rachel chuckles at that and Lance smiles tiredly as his eyes slip close. The two of them keep talking for has to be another thirty minutes, challenging each other to see who passes out first. In the end it’s Rachel who loses, her soft snores tingling through the phone call.

Lance smiles sleepily as he looks at his phone for a minute.

The picture he uses for her caller I.D. is one of his favorites. It’s of them both together, standing on one the beaches in Havana. They had just finished swimming, her in a bright blue one piece and him in matching blue board shorts. There’s a flush of exertion across both of their smiling faces, the water engulfing the background with only a little bit of sand peaking at the bottom of the photo. 

They had a passerby take the picture, and that day was them celebrating the news of his world tour. This is the picture they look most like twins if you ask Lance. Same bronze skin, same bright blue eyes, same dark hair, same smiles. Lance closes his eyes to the sound of his sister snoring and imagines himself at home with her.

When she mumbles in her sleep he chuckles and whispers a goodnight over the connection.

_“Te amo_ my dear _hermana,_ sweet dreams.” Lance says, and shuts off his phone, finally closing his eyes and falling asleep before he can say ‘oh fuck’. He never changed out of his suit, and he’s going to regret it in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spanish translation:
> 
> Hola hermanito- Hello baby brother
> 
> Lo siento Rachel- I’m sorry Rachel
> 
> Vete a la mierda- fuck off.
> 
> ¿Y los otros actores?- And the other actors?
> 
> Burro- jackass
> 
> Guay- cool
> 
> Te amo- I love you
> 
> Hermana- sister


	5. Puppy Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little bit of Lance being Lance.

_I’m late, I’m late,_ mierda _I’m so late!_

Lance rushes out the door of his hotel room half dressed, if that. His shirt, a simple blue tank top with _Cuba_ immortalized in swirling font over his chest, is on wrong. He isn’t sure how he managed to get his left arm _and_ his head through his left arm hole in the rush, but he did. And his jeans are unbuttoned and unzipped. He runs with one hand trying to keep them from falling down. 

God, the paparazzi would have a field day with that one. 

He also has his green jacket, the one all patched up with random pieces of cloth and patches. A Nasa patch, a U.S. Air Force patch, a hello kitty embroidery and a giant rose patch on the back all adorn his hand me down jacket in random spaces. His right arm, the hand keeping his pants up, are through the sleeve but that’s as far as he had gotten with it. 

In his mouth hangs a half eaten bagel, and his hair is uncombed. Great, now he’s gonna have a frizzy nest on top of his head. _Very classy Lance._ In his left hand is a generous handful of things just one minor slip away from scattering behind him as he rushes to his rental. Included among these things are his keys, his keycard to the hotel room, phone, wallet, his right shoe, and for some reason a small jelly container. 

Maybe for his bagel?

_Who cares,_ Lance yells in his mind, _I slept in!_ Lance mumbles out an apology through his bagel as he nearly crashes into an old couple, who stare at him in shock. He just barely manages to turn in time to avoid the windows and hit the doors at full speed instead. 

That’ll leave a bruise for sure. Oh well, at least it might fit in with the next few scenes. 

Lance almost faceplants his rental trying to open the door, not realizing he had locked it. Just great. He fumbles with his left hand to try and get the key in the door without dropping everything and almost succeeds. Alas, it is not his lucky day. He practically slams the car in drive after picking his things off the ground and peels out into traffic. 

His bagel still hangs from his mouth. 

As he drives he manages to work his pants closed, and slip on his shoe and fix his shirt. His hair is hopeless at this point, and he managed to pin his jacket underneath his butt so that’s out of the question for the moment. He peels into the parking lot the set uses, and is out of the car before he even kills the engine. 

“Sorry!” Lance yells, finally unlatching his jaw around the bagel. Weird, where did this bagel come from? He doesn’t even like bagels. He misses the look of shock on the valet that’s sure to be there. 

Lance skids around a corner so hard he nearly eats dirt, and he runs full speed towards the main set. People and employees scatter out of his way, and he’s too breathless to apologize anymore. 

_Got to get to set, got to get to set, got to get to set,_ Lance chants.

He rounds the final corner, kind of surprised he remembered the way so easily, and barrels straight for the main set. He has mere moments to realize that everyone is ready and already done with hair and makeup. 

Shiro now has a wicked scar across his nose, and darker eyes, and his prosthetic has even been trussed up to look far more futuristic looking. Allura’s got sharp elfin ears and loads of jewelry layered on top of her almost medieval looking dress. She’s also taller. 

Pidge is dressed just like she was yesterday. With her short locks teased and sprayed to stand up like she’s been electrocuted, but that’s it’s been a minute since it happened and her hair is starting to fall back into place. Her eyes nearly glow red, and she’s wearing tight fitted but boyish clothes, all in green shades. 

Hunk looks just like yesterday as well, the yellow of his clothes making him soft in the face, but his giant war hammer, which is what Suyo uses in the first few episodes as a weapon, makes him look deadly. A small, almost unnoticeable scar now splits his left eyebrow. 

The effects team surely outdid themselves.

Oh, but his eyes land on Keith last, and his breath is blown away even more than the running had. Shocking white hair, like Allura’s usual, falling into his face. Sharp violet gaze piercing his soul as they lock eyes. 

_Woah, super hot asshole._

Those violet eyes widen, and Lance tries to put on the breaks. He’s moving too fast, his momentum is too much to stop now. Lance crashes headlong into Keith, and they hit the ground in a tangle of limbs. He feels the breath that’s knocked out of Keith hit his cheek, and Lance collapses in gasping breaths on top of him. 

They lay there for a moment, both dazed and out of breath, when Keith, of all of people, says a _lame pick up line._

“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this.” Keith says into his ear. It’s so quiet that Lance is positive he’s the only one who heard it. It shocks him so hard, his dazed, oxygen and sleep deprived mind finds it hilarious and he bursts into uncontrollable giggles.

Keith stares at him, then his lips wobble, and suddenly they’re both a mass of tangled limbs just laughing until their stomachs hurt and their eyes are watering. Lance manages to roll off of Keith and onto his back beside him as he heaves in breaths between laughter.

“Good morning to you too Lance?” Shiro says, confused and staring down at him from above. His face pinches and that scar crinkles with his nose. Lance tries to breath but with the laughter and the running and the sheer hotness of the guy laughing beside him, he’s helpless. 

“You’re late my boy!” Coran says, and it’s in the most cheerful tone Lance has ever heard. And that includes Veronica’s ‘I didn’t do it’ voice. The entirety of the main cast stare down at him from above, making a circle around the edges of his vision. He struggles to sit up, and gives up when his body refuses to cooperate.

“Good morning to you guys as well.” Lance says with a tiny smile. “And yeah, I was jet lagged so much I slept through all five of my alarm clocks.”

Allura makes a face like she’s choking.

“Five?” She says incredulously. Lance laughs again, and it’s so breathless it’s soundless. 

“Used to be seven, but I thought I was getting better at it. Guess not.” Lance replies. Keith stands up beside him and dusts himself off. Lance stays on the ground with a new face staring down at him from above. 

“Getting better at what?” Pidge teases. “Waking up?”

Lance scoffs at her.

“I like my beauty rest.” He says with a pout.

“I mean, you kind of need it.” Hunk butts in and Lance gasps in outrage.

“Betrayal! You too Hunkalicious?” 

Allura starts giggling, covering her mouth with a hand. Which is a crying shame, because her smile is so pretty. Pidge snorts in the most unladylike of fashions. Shiro and Keith just look amused. Hunk though? Oh that pretty face of his turns bright red, darkening his already pretty dark skin. He pouts and Lance smiles innocently. Hunk always hates it when he uses pet names in public because he says it’s ‘embarrassing’. 

Not sure how being called _Hunk,_ as an actual _name,_ is any different.

“Are you going to get up anytime soon?” Keith asks, a small and unsure smile on his face. Okay, _maybe_ Lance judged him too quickly. _Maybe._ He’ll wait and see about that. Lance tries to scowl, though it comes out in more of a disgruntled pout.

“My body is paralyzed.” Lance says, and he visibly _sees_ Pidge roll her eyes, even though she turned her head away from him in that moment. Hunk laughs and a thick, rough looking hand is shoved in his face. 

“Come on then, you need to get hair and makeup done so we can start shooting.” Hunk says. Lance whines at the thought of having to walk all the way to the special effects studio. He widens his eyes like Marco taught him years and years ago, summons tears by sheer force of will, and starts making his bottom lip tremble. 

The perfect puppy dog face, gets ‘em every time.

Hunk slowly crumbles before him, starting with his eyes. Twitch by twitch, Hunk’s face eases into an earnest expression usually used for hurt baby animals. Lance nailed Hunk’s soft spot right on the head. _Boo yah._

“Okay,” Hunk says, his voice cracking with held back tears. “I’ll give you a piggyback ride, just stop looking at me like that.” 

Lance breaks his puppy eyes with a face cracking grin and reaches his arms up in the air like a child. He goes as far as to make grabby hands. He’s still laying down, but that isn’t a problem for a man like Hunk. He scoops Lance up like a sack of feathers, and situates him on his back. Lance looks to a very impressed Keith.

Lance is only slightly ashamed to admit that impressing Keith was a win on Lance’s part.

Guess he isn’t such a _burro_ after all.

Hunk carries him all the way to the hair and makeup trailer and plops him on the floor without warning. Lance makes a very undignified squeak and glares at Hunk as he walks away laughing. The special effects people all stare at him in shock. Yesterday everyone was in a rush to get him ready, so he didn't get to know everybody like he wanted to.

"Hey guys! Sorry about that, I'm Lance!" Lance says and pauses. He looks at the ground in a shyness he usually doesn't experience. One finger itches at his chin. "Though you probably already know that from yesterday."

One of the female artists-because the magic they pulled off yesterday in transforming Lance into Leandro so quickly deserves to be called art- starts giggling. She's an older woman, with waist length brown curls, greying slightly at the roots. Lance can remember his first impression of her being that she looks just like his mom. Even now the sight of the woman sends him into a strong bout of homesickness.

"Well then, Lance, I'm Layla. Now, get up so we can start getting you ready. You're late enough as it is." Layla says, scolding him gently. Lance flushes with embarrassment but complies to her demands.

He stands and stretches out his sore muscles. Sleeping in his suit last night really did a number on him. He was so overheated that he kept slipping in and out of consciousness, which is another reason why he slept in.

Around four this morning he finally got up and stripped down to his boxers.

"Right then miss Layla, what first?" Lance says with a smile. He's ushered into the changing room with his clothes shoved into his arms. He really does _not_ want to wear the suffocating material again, but he has no choice. Stupid Leandro with his cool but suffocating sense of style. 

Lance changes quickly, already dreading how much he’ll be sweating after today.

Layla sits him down in front of a mirror and Lance sees himself grimace. His hair looks awful, frizzy and sticking up all over the place. Some of his curls stayed tamed through his fitful sleep, but the rest of them just represent what a combed afro might look like. He’s just glad Layla and the others gave him a nice and breezy undercut. 

“My word, _what_ have you done to your hair _cher garçon?”_ Says the hairstylist, a man Lance was introduced to yesterday as Freddy. Freddy is a flamboyant, talkative, fashionably dressed, bald black man who speaks French, usually peppering his English with a swirling lilt of French words. In other words, Lance’s kind of guy. Despite the short amount of time they had yesterday to get ready, he learned a lot about _Monsieur_ Freddy.

Freddy is gay, he likes American pasta over traditional Italian for the simple fact that it’s easier to make, and he hates chocolate unless it’s in its purest, bittersweet flavor. He grew up as a hairstylist’s son, moved to the states when he was five, and has done the hair for every major celebrity Lance has ever heard of. 

In no time the rat’s nest on Lance’s head is transformed into perfectly styled curls. His bangs don’t defy gravity like Shiro’s, so they hang delicately over his eyes. When his head is low, his bangs completely block his eyes from view, which is a total plus in Lance’s mind. Now he can perfect his anime quality acting just by hanging his head at a slightly lowered angle. 

Freddy and Lance chat until the very last moment when the makeup artists swoop in to take over. 

They mark his barely freckled nose with far more freckles than he naturally has, and darken his eyebrows, adding on a thin layer of concealer to hide any blemishes and _bam._ Leandro is ready to go. They hand him his sniper rifle prop and then Layla practically kicks him out the door. 

A blast of heat smacks him in the face and he prays to any god that’s listening that he doesn’t sweat off his makeup. That would suck. Lance trudges his way back to set glumly wishing they were in an air conditioned building.

Hopefully filming will go a lot smoother this time around.


End file.
